Sunset Sprint

(I bounded down the slope, catching a glimpse of the fiery sunset beneath a darkening sky on the horizon.  My long shadow danced across the ground as I sliced a path between trees toward an open clearing.  Cool air rushed across my fur as my steps pounded the soil beneath my rushing form.)

Well, here goes another try at a speedpaint.  I was targeting about 1.5 hours, but this took 2 hours and 15 minutes.  I sought to use techniques which are optimized for speedpaints.  Specifically, I wanted a more graceful, smooth painting with less in the way of specific details or finer points.  I wanted to capture a feeling, a moment, a visual concept- while forgoing the minutiae and fine detailing which I strive to complete in my full pictures.  In the best speedpaints, there is no apparent lack of quality or a sense that more time should have been spent to fix things in the picture.  Instead, the picture appears fine for what it is- showcasing the main idea with the least time invested, without ill effect.  Since my full pictures can take 16-20 hours, this was about a little more than 10% of the time I'd spend on a full picture.  I feel that I'm still stuck using too many of the techniques and approaches which I've picked up by working toward complete pictures most of the time, and I'm concerned that this means I have a long way to go before I can make appealing speedpaints, by my own measure.  Oh well, at least I'm getting practice.  This is the first time I can think of in which I've made two upload-ready pictures in a single day.    Lauren, gray wolf original character (c) foxstory 2014. 

Lauren is the protagonist of my story "Transpecies," embarking on an adventure after becoming her fursona.  (and there's more to it than that, naturally, so if you're interested you can find poetry and other art for the story in my gallery.  I can also share prose writing samples for critique if that exchange interests you.)

This isn't meant to reach the same standard as my full works, but I'm working to pick up the art of speedpaints.  Comments and critique are appreciated, as always.